Things Are Good » Random Act of Good

Pollution Dress is Stylin’

Adam Clare — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:07:50 +0000

A fashion designer has made a dress with a CO2 detector in a dress then lights up using LEDs depending on the concentration of CO2 in the area.

The Climate Dress is made of conductive embroidery, over hundred of tiny LED lights inserted into the embroidey, a CO2 sensor and an Arduino Lilypad microprocessor. The LEDs visualize the level of CO2 in the nearby surroundings and are powered trough the embroidery!
For The Climate Dress we used soft conductive thread that has a similar consistence to the kind of thread used for traditional and industrial embroidery production. This way it is possible to make embroidery that become more than an esthetical element in clothing and interior textiles.

The embroidery becomes functional conveying electricity and computer information and thereby give “power to the dress”. The dress senses the CO2 concentration in the air, then accordingly creates diverse light patterns varying from slow, regular light pulsations to short and hectic. The technology, which integrates ”soft circuits” into the production of embroidery, is an innovative process. It is the result of a fruitful collaboration between Copenhagen based design studio diffus, Swiss embroidery company Forster-Rohner, the Danish research-based limited company Alexandra Institute and finally the Danish School of Design.

See the dress here.

“Robin Hood Banker” Does What You’d Expect

David Fono — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:21:11 +0000

When people on the subway can’t even be bothered to tell someone about the dead body they’re riding with (true story, happened to a friend), it’s always heartening to run into someone with a conscience. Like this banker in Germany:

The woman knew most of the clients of her small rural branch and had access to their accounts, German TV station WDR reported. That’s how she discovered that some of her richest customers – some with six-figure balances – had not touched their accounts in years. Meanwhile, others were drowning in debt. “Customers asked me if I could help them. They couldn’t get credit in a conventional way,” the woman told the court, adding that she found her actions unbelievable now. “I can’t understand it any more. I must have had helper syndrome.”

Beijing to build “Green Belt”

Cam Proctor — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 15:08:24 +0000

Starting small, Beijing has reserved a 1 km swathe on the capital’s fringe for parkland and recreation. It may not seem like much, but remember that Beijing has phenomenal development pressure, soaring land prices and not much more land to work with.

OLPC For You and Me

Adam Clare — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 14:43:10 +0000

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project aims to bridge the digital divide by providing relatively inexpensive computers to kids in the developing world. The cost of the machine has unfortunately increased from their proposed $100 USD to almost double that, in oprder to ensure that they can still get these laptops out to the kids they are selling them as pairs.

You buy an OLPC laptop for yourself, but in doing so you also buy one to be donated to a child somewhere in the majority world.

The mission of One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is to empower the children of developing countries to learn by providing one connected laptop to every school-age child. In order to accomplish our goal, we need people who believe in what we’re doing and want to help make education for the world’s children a priority, not a privilege. Between November 12 and November 26, OLPC is offering a Give One Get One program in the United States and Canada. During this time, you can donate the revolutionary XO laptop to a child in a developing nation, and also receive one for the child in your life in recognition of your contribution.

Previously on Things Are Good: Cheap Laptop

Get Buried Green

Adam Clare — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:47:25 +0000

I’ve deicded that I’ll never die, but for those of you that have chosen mortality you ought to bury your used body in an environmentally friendly way. Say no to toxic chemicals and rusted metal in your casket and say hello to what at least one article is calling an eco-burial.

Advocates argue that a green approach to burial is environmentally friendly, spiritually uplifting and often less costly than the conventional American way of laying people to rest.

Some conservation groups see green burials as a way to preserve public land that otherwise might be devoured by development.

“Before the ‘better dying through chemistry’ era was born, this was the way most of humanity cared for its dead,” said Joe Sehee, founder and executive director of the Green Burial Council, a nonprofit group leading the charge for biodegradable burials. “It’s a way to honor the dead and heal the living in an environmentally responsible manner.”

The Red Scarf Project

terri_c — Tue, 01 May 2007 15:37:54 +0000

I don’t know how many knitters are out there reading this site, but there was recent project that just wrapped up called “The Red Scarf Project.” It was a project set up by the Orphan Foundation of America that asked volunteers to make various unisex scarves for parentless “college-bound youth.” They received a lot of scarves and many different people participated including Lion’s Brand Wool, which sponsored a 5th grade class’s knitting needles and wool.

You can read about it at http://www.orphan.org/red_scarf_project.xhtml or http://nownormaknits2.typepad.com/now_norma_knits_2/2007/04/i_was_in_error.html

In the end 15, 097 scarves were made. So many that some are being kept for next year’s event. They are planning to make the deadline earlier though. It will likely be in September or October of 2007.

Recycled Parking Meters Help the Homeless

Cam Proctor — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:03:15 +0000

Called the “Donation Meter” these recycled parking meters accept coins on behalf of the homeless supportig efforts to provide meals, job training, substance abuse counseling, housing and other programs for those in need. A total of 36 recycled meters have been placed at various locations throughout Denver.

Hockey Overload

Adam Clare — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:18:21 +0000

I know that this is the second hockey post in as many weeks, but this is a Canadian-based site remember. Also on Friday’s we tend to post news that is more entertaining in its goodness than effect.

Hockey good thing number 1:

“A recent winner of a hockey contest on Information Morning in Fredericton gave back his grand prize, asking the show hold an auction with proceeds going to a child who couldn’t afford to play hockey this year.” From Inside the CBC. A news story about hockey from a CBC blog about a contest run by the CBC that also involves beer (can’t much more stereotypically Canadian than that).

Hockey good thing number 2:

Canadian researchers have found out what spot of the ice a hockey goalie needs to watch.

Previously we spoke of hockey on Google Video.